C'mon C'mon (2021)

Direction: Mike Mills
Country: USA 

The 2020 Academy-award winning actor, Joaquin Phoenix (The Master, 2012; Her, 2013; Joker, 2020) stars in C’mon C’mon, a sensitive, hearty drama written and directed by Mike Mills, who continues in the humanist vein of his previous family-themed efforts, Beginners (2010) and 20th Century Women (2016). This time he shots in black-and-white, working from a well-crafted script, whose curveballs feel so naturally nuanced that sometimes we believe we’re seeing real life in direct. 

The story follows a radio journalist, Johnny (Phoenix), who is interviewing young people across the country about what they expect from the future and the problems they see in America. His serene life changes significantly when he agrees to look after his peculiar 9-year-old nephew, Jessie (Woody Norman), in the absence of his mother, Viv (Gaby Hoffmann). Family wounds are revealed, and uncle and nephew, bonding in a strange yet liberating way, will find new perspectives to deal with their worries and problems. 

All the process works thanks to a solid direction and the vibrant connection between Phoenix, who demonstrates a total understanding of his character, and Norman, who surprises with fabulous acting skills. What makes this beautiful film so personal and endearing is the authenticity with which the scenes are built, nibbling around the edges of emotion with subtle touches. 

Precise in its three-dimensional analysis, Mills tells something genuine and meaningful in a quiet heart-tugger made irresistible by naturalistic performances. Sensitive audiences won’t have difficulty remembering C’mon C’mon.

20th Century Women (2016)

Directed by Mike Mills
Country: USA

American writer-director Mike Mills has convinced me of his cinematic capacities with just a triplet of comedy-dramas. This is quite something since most of directors tend not to be so fortunate in an early stage. 
Mills’s secrets include hard work over a script that works, take the time to get it ripe, and then gather the best actors and employ honest mechanisms to put it into practice.
It was like that in “Thumbsucker” (2005), “Begginers” (2010), and now in his brand new “20th Century Women”.

The film, partly based on the director’s childhood, is mostly centered on a middle-aged single mother, Dorothea Fields (Annette Bening), who struggles to fight loneliness and raise her 15-year-old son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) in 1970s Southern California. However, it also introduces us to other interesting characters that help to enrich the whole with their own particular stories.
Dorothea rents his house to Abbie (Greta Gerwig), a staunch feminist, music connoisseur, and amateur photographer who’s recovering from cervical cancer. Although late on the rent payment, she and Dorothea are good friends.

Also a tenant, William (Billy Crudup) is a bland soul who helps to fix the house and energizes himself through meditation. He starts an uncompromising relationship with Abby but it’s attracted to the landlady, who gets along with him but finds him humorless.  Dorothea is sufficiently liberal to let Jamie skip school classes. However, she gets upset when Abby inflicts a substantial dose of feminism on him.
Jamie is a punk music enthusiast who often sleeps with his best friend, Julie (Elle Fanning), with no sex involved, though. He's going through a difficult phase, proper from the age, but Dorothea really doesn’t know how to deal with him. Resorting to her tenants to help her on this matter seems not to be the right solution.

Both adults and teenagers share their lives with one another, trying to feel good and attain balance. Sometimes simplifying, sometimes complicating, all of them are compelling individuals.
Pelted with pleasurably weird moments, “20th Century Women” is a beautiful ode to friendship and human understanding that doesn’t waste a single minute with trifles. It’s realistic enough to make us interested until the end, conveying a variety of emotions within the different scenarios.
Even with all these pointed qualities and a great cast, the film doesn’t surpass “Beginners”, which remains Mills’s most accomplished film so far.